LONDON – England’s NHS has spent millions of pounds since 2019 recruiting private agency staff to address the shortage of nurses and doctors, figures have revealed. Revenues of two companies providing services to the NHS have increased by up to 80%.
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The position of the NHS chiefs is that due to the shortage of staff, there is no way without seeking the help of private agencies. It is estimated that by 2021, around £3 billion will be spent on agency staff in England. Reports also show that there was a hospital that paid an agency doctor £5,200 for a single shift. 300 to 500 is paid to nurses, reports also suggest.
Medax Healthcare, a leading provider of doctors to the NHS, is expected to take in £160.9m from 2019 to 2021, according to the latest figures. Their income has increased by 80 percent. Another healthcare professional agency, ID Medical, has a turnover of £145.4m in 2022.
Hospitals are also admitting that the shortage of nurses and doctors means they need extra staff to care for patients. But labor unions said the shortage would not have been so severe if the money spent on agency workers had been paid as salary increases to hospital workers.